Chapter 42

A glimpse of the blood moon could be seen through the slit of the window curtains and was the portal to the fantasy world that Yui currently found herself dancing in. She pictured herself in the pool that Azusa and she had shared their first time, swallowed by the Earth and shielded by the dying trees. Only this time, the trees were fresh and bright with lively leaves that littered around the ground, along with dandelions and sweet smelling grass. Noah was there, only he was different. Older and walking on his own, maybe three or four years old at this point. His blue eyes vibrantly struck his mothers and he smiled at her. Not a fang could be seen. His cheeks flushed pink, his lips rosey and petite, he was a normal little boy. And Azusa, he was there too. His normally tangled locks were now curled and clean, only party covering his violet eyes that shined so brightly. He was sat at the water's edge, his hands covered in dirt with a small sand castle between he and Noah. His cheeks were flushed, too.

"P-please," Yui whispered through the darkness, "please stop." The moon was no longer a distraction but rather a key to light used to illuminate the monstrosity of a man sprawled out on top of her. He had cut both himself and her more times than she could count. The pain would tingle now and again, but usually remained a faded and dull aching. Azusa had finally gotten off, only to kneel in front of the bed between Yui's weak legs. He began touching her again, this time with his delicate hands, and she realized that he was examining his work. "Are you... afraid," he breathed against her skin. His breath was warm but still sent shivers up her core. "Yes," Yui admitted. She was very afraid and she knew that he very well knew that. "Don't you... love me..." His voice carried on like a fine tune and only dimmed when he pressed his lips onto the side of her knee cap, the prick of his teeth causing her to automatically twitch. Yui quickly nodded her head, both panicked and desperate. "Yes!" She whispered through her teeth urgently, prepared for another slice, "I do. Yes, yes!" She couldn't get the words out fast enough. Not only was she trying to get away, but she was hoping that something in Azusa would just magically snap and he would be back to how he was. The part of him she knew best, so intimately, and that she had grown so fond of. But it wasn't enough, for Azusa only gripped onto her leg tighter and looked up at her with lazy, uninterested eyes. He was back to not caring about what she had to say. She was simply a piece of meat. "No..." he sighed, "if you loved me... you wouldn't, just... let it happen. You... would cut me." He slowly raised the dagger again and held it close to his face, pressing the blade onto his lower lip and allowing it to drag down. His tongue ran across the tip before he hissed out, "Cut me." It was now a demand, not a suggestion.

Yui couldn't bring herself to take the dagger from his hands. She had promised herself long ago that she would teach Azusa to love in a different way, and to accept love in that way, but she had failed. All the progress was simply a mask that covered his ultimately evil ways. He had placed the knife into her hand and forced her fingers to curl onto it but they wouldn't stick, for when he pulled away it simply dropped onto the floor beside him. "I see," he sighed as he bent over and grabbed onto the knife, examining the precious blade and slowly rising to his feet. He lapped off the rest of the blood slowly with his tongue and visibly gulped down the taste before turning away and saying under his breath, "So... unfortunate. Right.. Justin?" She hadn't heard him talk to his scars since she had just moved in. But before she could form any sort of response, Azusa was gone.

After waiting some time after Azusa had left, Yui slowly crept out of her room; using all the strength she could muster not to look at Noah's crib when she passed by. The only thing distracting her from the baby right now was the sound that had erupted from her belly. Through all of the loss and drama, she hadn't given herself the time to even feel hungry. But now that there was a moment of silence, she was absolutely starving. "Sow," Yuma said from behind her, "you're just in time for dinner." As he walked past her and toward the dining room, he obnoxiously checked her up and down, rudely adding, "Not that you seem to need it." Her belly was extended for obvious reasons but could just be filled with air for all she knew. She chose to ignore the comment, as always, and instead focused on the marvelous sight of food when she walked in behind Yuma. "Oh!" she gasped, "It's beautiful." The first thing she had laid on her eyes on was a bowl of shrimp on a bed of rice and within a moment of sitting down, she scooped a hunk of it up with her spoon and immediately ate it. The first bite and followed by a large cough, where rice went spewing onto her lap. Kou chuckled a high pitched laugh from across her and when she looked up, to her horror, all four brothers were sitting at the table and three of them were staring her down. Azusa was looking ahead as he ate his food, totally uninterested in her. The others, beside Kou, didn't seem the slight bit amused or surprised even. "It tastes rancid, doesn't it?" Kou snickered, "Don't worry, M Neko - Chan! You'll get used to shit in your mouth. Mind over matter, eh?" Utterly bewildered, Yui turned to Yuma who was sitting beside her and he didn't need to turn over to know she was staring. He growled through his teeth as he chewed, "Can't eat the good stuff all the time. That's why you were sent to us in the first place, unfortunately." He added on "rude bitch" under his breath afterwards but Yui pretended not to hear and instead continued to eat the food that turned to acid in her belly.

The boys filtered out of the room, alarmingly fast in Yui's eyes, until it was only she and Azusa sitting. He didn't appear to be uncomfortable at all, completely unbothered actually. A new feeling arose in Yui's abdomen. Bubbling. It was anger. Without thinking, the girl slammed down her fists to the table, causing all the silverware to rattle against the plates and a ringing to fill the air. "You don't care, do you? How could you!" She was screaming and found herself within a moment out of her seat and leaped across the room at Azusa. She had mindlessly grabbed him by each wrist and railed him around in his chair, earning a smirk. He was enjoying the rough nature. It only angered her even more, especially when they caught eachothers eyes, and she threw his hands back down. "He's gone!" She sobbed. Angry tears ran down her hot cheeks yet Azusa seemed barely phased. She didn't even see him blink. "And-and, it's your fault!" she shrieked, "My baby is gone and it's your fault!"

There was no getting through to him so the blonde swirled around and began stomping toward the door before she suddenly felt herself sunken into a protective grip, cold arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder. It was the sense of safety she had been yearning for, but after his blowout she refused to accept it. Instead she struggled in his arms and howled even louder. The cries came to an abrupt stop when Azusa shoved one hand over her mouth, forcing her into silence and immediate fear. He hushed her and allowed his hand to stray down her front, caressing her inflamed belly and rubbing along it lovingly. The sudden change of heart was not only incredibly frustrating but frightening as well. His other hand slowly lowered from her mouth and he placed it on her upper arm instead. "It is... my fault," he whispered into her ear. His voice shook slightly on the last words but he continued, "I will fix it. I will... bring back the baby."

Yui slowly sunk out of Azusa's arms and onto her knees on the dining room floor. Her face was hidden in her hands, shielded by her light bangs, and she wept silently into her fingers. "Why are you doing this?" she finally mumbled through her fingers. They were shaking. They only stopped when Azusa laid his hands over hers from behind and slowly pulled them from her face, exposing the teary mess. "I... don't know..." he whispered shamefully. His head was now buried into the crook of her neck. She could feel that his breaths were uneasy. Perhaps the regression was a coping mechanism. Of course it was, she thought to herself. It's all he has known. Misery combated with pain, and somehow that was love in Azusa's eyes. "I just know..." he said slowly, "We... will get him back."